Zuko's Love
by lace-910
Summary: The least thing Luciana Evans was expecting in her terrible life was a sudden, inexplicable teleportation to Zuko's palace in the world of the Avatar. When she finds out that she was brought there on purpose to wed fire lord Zuko, how will she react? Will she be okay with the fact that he expects her to give him children? Will they fall in love? Zuko's Love is a story of drama, hea


Chapter 1

Before I begin I feel obliged to say that I, Lacey, do not own any of the characters in this book- with one exception, Luciana. And possibly some other characters that I make up. Hehe. Other than that, Aang, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, etc. do NOT belong to me.

I was king now. I was king. I was king over all of the fire nation. I was king. I couldn't put into words the feeling that was inside me then. So, instead, I gave my speech based on the honor I had now. Yeah, honor. All of my life, I'd reached out for that one word. It was simple, yet unmistakable. Honor. It seemed as though once, months ago, I would have given anything for it. It always seemed to lie so near in front of me. And yet, it was always just outside my reach.

Until now.

I could feel the blood pulsing through my veins, as I waited for the crowd to have all their eyes on me and to quiet themselves. I was sure none of them believed that I had taken the place of my father. I almost spat on the ground at the very thought of him; but quickly restrained myself, for now was the time to deliver my speech. I relaxed my muscles and took a deep breath; and then began.

"Men! Women! Children, gather closely and listen to the words that I shall bestow upon you." I started off, in a loud voice. It rang through the courtyard.

"All my life, I have aspired to be able to do something of mention. Do something of worth, of... honor. And that is why I am here, in front of you, today: because I am never willing to let go of it. My honor is everything- and without it, I cannot take leadership over this fine, strong, wonderfully capable country!" I waited a moment, being patient for the din to quiet down from all of the excited shouts and whoopings.

"And today, I, Firelord Zuko, shall lead you into the NEW era- the one where all will live in peace and harmony! The one where there will be no restraint against the poor, and no more will we opress the airbenders, earthbenders, and waterbenders! Together, if it so please you, we can once again live without fear of arrest simply because of a talent bestowed upon you! WE SHALL LIVE! WE SHALL BEND! WE... SHALL... HAVE... HONOR!" I yelled the last part, and basked in the frenzied cries of adoration, admiration and... hope. I suddenly realized that those last three sentences of my speech would probably stick into the minds of all the people, and I wondered whether it would be a powerful motto.

Before my castle lay a large gateway, which held a plank of deep, cherry-red wood. I figured that I could commision somebody to engrave it, saying something along the lines of live, bend, and honor.

Yeah, that sounded good.

I left the podium and the cheering people, and walked toward my new castle. My home. I looked upon it with awe and admiration, and finally I felt humbled that I had finally achieved my dreams- and that hard work does not fail you, in the end. Even though it might seem as though it might, at first...

"AAAAND I'm ready to know where the people go... Ask 'em my questions, and geeet some answers! What's a fire and why does it, what's the word, buuurn!" I turned the crank to shut off the warm water in the shower, much to my dismay. I had probably been singing some stupid, random Disney songs in there for over a half an hour.

Once I steped out of the shower, I stopped dead and shivered. I had forgotten that it was so cold at night here in Arkansas. Ugh.

I opened the door a crack to grab a towel from the front of it. My roommate and I couldn't keep any of the towels inside the very small bathroom because, well, it was very small. My arm immediately blossomed with goosebumps, and I gasped at the cold. I briskly grabbed the towel and shoved it back into the bathroom, scraping my thumb against the door. Some of my skin had flaked off a bit, but I wasn't bleeding- so no harm done.

I dried myself, quick as a flash. Then, with only my towel draped around me, I trekked out towards my dorm. Just then, I noticed something in the mirror of my bathroom.

It was as though... The mirror had _rippled_, right in front of me.

Sure that I was only imagining it, I instinctively took a step closer; just to be sure. Then I took another step, and another, until there were no more steps to take. I stared at the mirror, and quickly confirmed my suspicion that I had only imagined the rippling. Or so I had thought.

Just as I was about to walk away again, I saw it ripple once more.

Curious and frightened, I inched my hand closer to the glass, and closer, until my hand came in contact with the center of the strange disturbance. My hand coming in contact with it made the surface ripple with several ringlets, like it would in a bathtub if you touched still water. Curious still, I stuck my hand further in.

Let me tell you, as I look back to that moment today, I am unsure whether it was the best or worst thing I have ever done to myself.

At that moment, I, Luciana Evans, was hurtling through a portal of space, time, matter, and motion.

THUD.

As I woke up, my very first thought was that we were under attack- and my castle was being bombarded with logs to crash open the front gate. However, I quickly shook such an irrational fear right out of my mind. I realized I would have heard more than one thud for that to be true. I got up quickly, however, still curious to see what had caused the disturbance. I heard a scuffling and groaning, and swiftly ran toward the noise. when I finally reached the chamber where I was sure the noises were coming from, I looked inside the one-way glass porthole-like window, and nearly jumped out of my pants for joy.

Our portal had worked.

-FLASHBACK-

"Uncle Ihro, that's insane! It's stupid! It... Might just work!" I said, suddenly excited. However, I stifled down the strong emotion and replaced it with indifference. I did not want to allow myself such a false hope.

"I certainly hope so, Zuko. You are, by now, in most desperate need of a wife. You must continue your blood line." Replied Uncle.

"Uncle, are you implying that there is a parallel universe out there and that through Aang, we can enter it and bring someone back? Wait. Why don't I just take a bride from our world?" I said. This seemed to me like a waste of time.

"Because I have a suspicion that their women are not like ours. I have heard stories of a parallel world where the women are educated, independant, and beautiful beyond belief." Said Uncle. I certainly did not object, although I was still slightly doubtful.

"Alright, Uncle. I will allow you to ask Aang to create a portal, but please be careful. We can't afford to lose the Avatar, even if he reincarnates anew. He has much better things to do than find me a proper bride fit for a fire king."

-END OF FLASHBACK-

I couldn't believe it. I seriously could not believe that a woman from another world was here, at my doorstep, practically, that I might be able to wed. Educated, independant, beautiful beyond belief... these words rang through my head pleasantly. I smirked when I realized how beautiful she was. However, my cheeks turned red when I found that she was wearing only a strip of rough fabric, maybe four feet wide at the most. We needed to change that, but it made me wonder if this was a fashion where she belonged. I suddenly hoped that Uncle had sent the replacement- the life form the avatar had created- to resemble and replace the girl I was after. Suddenly I realized that I had to talk to her at some point, although I was rather embarrased that I was still in my sleep shorts and, as of yet, quite shirtless.

I opened the hatch and stared at her. It took a while, but eventually she realized she was being looked at. She shot her head up with a gasp, and a mixture of emotions crossed her face. I wasn't positive, but it looked like confusion and perhaps a slight bit of fear. Which, naturally, perversely pleased me. However, what she said next only frightened and confused ME.

"P-Prince... Zuko?"


End file.
